


A touch of magic, a spark of love

by Blue_Daisies_In_The_Shadows



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Awesome Gwen (Merlin), Awesome Morgana (Merlin), BAMF Arthur, BAMF Gwen (Merlin), BAMF Merlin (Merlin), BAMF Morgana (Merlin), Courting Rituals, Dark Merlin, Emrys is Merlin's original name, Good Morgana (Merlin), Jealous Arthur, Jealous Merlin, Just super down for murder, M/M, Merlin basically gives Arthur a magic tattoo, Merlin doesn't understand humans sometimes, Merlin is Older than Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin is a Little Shit, Merlin is magic, Merlin's Magic Revealed (Merlin), Misunderstandings, Multi, Non consensual marking, Not Evil Though, Oblivious Arthur, Pining Arthur, Possessive Behavior, Powerful Merlin, Protective Arthur, Protective Merlin, Uther Finds Out About Merlin's Magic (Merlin), comedic misunderstandings, if anyone is maybe dangerous to Arthur, magic marks, non-human merlin, past what's already in the show, without asking about it first
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2020-10-24 10:02:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20704151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Daisies_In_The_Shadows/pseuds/Blue_Daisies_In_The_Shadows
Summary: Merlin isn't just magical, he is Magic.  So when Uther starts murdering all the magic users in the area Merlin leaves to possibly kill the King, possibly just curse him, he'll decide when he gets there.  The only problem is the golden Prince of Camelot with a soul so blinding that Merlin can't help but fall in love with the Prince on the spot.  Now Merlin has to juggle protecting the man he loves, pretending that he doesn't have any magic, help the growing seer Morgana before her visions drive her insane and deal with Fate's prophesy...





	1. The nature of the soul

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all, a few quick notes first. I don't beta so let me know if you see any mistakes and I'll fix them. I also have a slow and random updating schedule due to my schoolwork and research lab so sorry in advance for that! Also note that I'm using a very loose interpretation of the idea of the "soul" so if it doesn't align with your views on the subject please note that this is fanfiction and I'm just using the idea to have fun so don't take everything I say here too seriously.   
Otherwise I hope you enjoy!

The being currently going by Merlin was headed to Camelot. He was not going there for the kinds of reasons most young men would be headed to the big city. He wasn’t looking for a job, sent by his family, seeking vengeance or anything overly grand.

Of course Merlin wasn’t a really young man, or a man at all… though he certainly appeared to be to nearly every being on the planet. Only the Others like him would have recognized the young man for what he was, and even then not all of them would. Merlin was quite good at hiding when he wanted to.

But, to the point, Merlin was headed to Camelot very simply because the king kept killing magic users and all the whining about this was becoming annoying.

Merlin wasn’t overly interested in micromanagement. Magic users killed non-magic users and vice versa all the time. It really boiled down to the fact that humans overall were very insistent about killing each other, particularly when one group of people had any kind of difference from another group. It was rather pointless to try and constantly stop all the fighting and Merlin certainly wasn’t one to bother with something that he wouldn’t be able to change in the end. A waste of energy.

However it seemed that King Uther Pendragon had tipped the relative balance in the area and now everything was going haywire.

See magic was a natural force, much like the winds or the ocean, and it could be harnessed by many if they put in the effort. However, magic was also everywhere, unlike most other natural forces, and if by chance a person was born with a high amount of magic then they would not have a choice in controlling their magic. Well, they could die or be driven mad as well, but Merlin had never counted that as a real choice. The Druids often passed their magic onto their children, resulting in communities where nearly everyone just was a magic user, some more than others. This worked out just fine and rarely resulted in any cases of insanity or death- at least not due to innate magic.

The problem with innate magic lay in the random appearances. Merlin pitied these people as they were often driven mad when left without a teacher. Merlin often assisted these people as he felt partially responsible for them in a way that he wasn’t to other people.

This lead to the collision of events that were pushing Merlin from his relaxing life of travel, or wandering more accurately, to Camelot. While the King tormented any magic user, and normally Merlin would just off the man if it got to this point, Fate had stepped in on the matter. Merlin had not cared to pay too much attention but apparently the Prince of Camelot was meant to take care of the problem and Merlin had been fine with that.

Fate had informed him that the King’s ward was an untrained magic user and maybe the Prince plan needed a bit of help as he seemed to be taking after his father a bit too much.

So Merlin had chewed Fate out for once again setting up some half-baked plan that was destined to fall apart in Merlin’s opinion and began wandering towards Camelot.

At least he could help out poor… Morgana was her name if Merlin recalled correctly. 

-

Merlin was not thrilled the execution that he had walked into, but it was not in his nature to interfere in such matters. He wasn’t Fate, nor Mercy or Vengeance.

Merlin headed towards the chambers of the castle's healer. Gaius had been looking for an apprentice as he was growing older and wanted to have to time to properly train his successor before he was forced to retire. Merlin may have done a few slightly unethical things to assure that Gaius would be willing to give him, a man with no noble parentage, a chance. In Merlin’s defense he was actually a far better healer than his master would ever be, even if he couldn’t do the fancy spells in Camelot with the ridiculous magic ban.

When Merlin made it to the door, placed much further from the noble’s quarters than he would have placed it, he politely knocked on the door.

And so his- what would soon be described as brief- apprenticeship began.

-

Merlin’s first meeting with Morgana began with a bit of a misunderstanding. Merlin had been called in to deliver her medicine at and asked opinions about a dress. Clearly Merlin was not whomever Morgana had thought he was.

“I’m sure any dress would look quite flattering on you, my Lady.” Merlin replied with a cheerful smile.

“Oh!” Morgana exclaimed, surprised to see Merlin as she peeked out from behind her screen. “You are not Gwen.”

“I’m afraid not, my Lady.” Merlin laughed lightly. “My name is Merlin, I was hired as Gaius’ apprentice yesterday. I’ve been sent to deliver your medicine.”

Merlin held up the vial that he had absolutely already charmed to be a soothing sleeping drought that wouldn’t clash with Morgana’s own magic. 

“Well, send my thanks to Gaius.” Morgana said, gesturing for Merlin to set the vial on her dresser while still remaining firmly behind the divider.

“Of course.” Merlin replied. “I hope this will help you rest well, my Lady.” 

Merlin gave a quick bow, as he should with their respective positions in the castle, before he left- passing a pretty maid as he did. The young woman glanced at him curiously before moving to her lady’s room. This must be Gwen then. No magic there, she had a good soul though and Merlin was glad that Morgana seemed to have the support of such a strong, kind women.

-

Merlin wasn’t expecting to be attending the feast, it seemed to be a rather grand affair after all. Only nobility, and the servers of course, would be there to hear the widely known beautiful singer. Merlin was therefore surprised that he and Gaius would also be there, and even if Gaius was attending out of respect for his knowledge and position Merlin shouldn’t also be there. He’d only been apprenticed a few days at this point. 

Gaius hadn’t even seemed to decide if he liked Merlin yet, as the pair were already clashing a bit due to their differences in the approach to healing. Merlin didn’t think Gaius was wrong, per say, just that it could be done better. This didn’t endear Merlin to the old man even if Merlin’s remedy’s had proven to be impressive as of this point.

This left Merlin with the impression that Gaius didn’t quite know what to make of him.

Yet he had taken Merlin to the feast all the same, even if the old healer did immediately abandon him with a strict note to not embarrass either of them over the course of the night.

Merlin wasn’t concerned about doing such, he could hold his tongue and maybe use a touch of magic if a noble was being particularly nasty, and as such happily headed over to where Gwen was hanging back.

“Gwen, how wonderful to see you.” Merlin grinned brightly at the kind maid that had been very helpful in negating the use of magic for Merlin to find his way around the castle these last few days.

“Merlin!” Gwen grinned brightly. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“I wasn’t expecting to be here.” Merlin said honestly. “It seems Gaius is at least somewhat pleased with me.”

“Rumor has it you assisted in saving one of the more popular merchant’s child.” Gwen praised. “I’m sure you’re doing just fine.”

“Oh well thank you.” Merlin shrugged shyly. “Gaius still did most of the work.”

That was a lie, the child had been well on their way to full health by the time Gaius had returned to find he had a new patient as the old man had been seeing to a nobleman's infant. The baby hadn’t been ill, simply in need of a checkup due to their young age.

“Even still, I’m sure you’ll make a grand healer.” Gwen said encouragingly. 

“I do hope so.” Merlin replied.

“I’d say he already is.” A new voice chimed in.

Merlin turned to see that the Lady Morgana had joined the small group.

“My Lady.” Gwen curtsied as Merlin gave a short bow.

“None of that.” Morgana said dismissively. “We are friends, are we not?”

“Of course my Lady.” Gwen grinned.

“I’d be honored.” Merlin replied with a slight note of surprise in his voice.

“You have been helping me get a decent amount of sleep after all.” Morgana said to Merlin.

“I’m simply delivering Gaius’ medicine.” Merlin replied. “I’m glad they have been helping you, my Lady.”

“They have been quite soothing, much more than any Gaius had produced before.” Morgana smirked.

Merlin gave a slight blush at that, realizing that she had caught his tampering.

Internally he wasn’t overly surprised and knowing the woman could figure that out so quickly only made Merlin like her more.

“Have you seen Arthur then?” Morgana asked, turning towards Gwen.

“He doesn’t seem to have arrived yet, my Lady.” Gwen said with a knowing smile.

Merlin, not one to miss the understated, grinned at this.

“You look exceptionally stunning tonight, my Lady, I’m sure the Prince will be unable to focus on much else.” Merlin commented.

“You do know how to make a woman feel special.” Morgana laughed, a triumphant gleam in her eyes.

“I try, my Lady.” Merlin grinned back cheerfully.

“Oh, there he is, my Lady.” Gwen commented excitedly.

Merlin turned to see what this Prince he’d heard so much about looked like and froze to the spot. The Prince was… gorgeous.

And Merlin wasn’t actually talking about his physical appearance, though he did note that the Prince was quite attractive in that area as well. No Merlin could see the aura around the Prince and then looking deeper could peer at the man’s very soul.

Now Merlin could see the essence of every living thing, something that humans called a soul and defined very strangely and in varying manners. What ever it was that humans liked to describe, Merlin saw it as a light burning at the center of every living thing- not that he saw the light permanently, he had to choose to look deeper.

Gwen had a very pretty soul that filled her entire chest and seeped slightly outwards that glowed a soft and soothing sky blue. It indicated that she was a kind, caring and gentle person overall, but with a protective streak that could strike ruthlessly just as any calm sky could quickly become a furious storm.

Morgana had a deep royal purple soul that was a bit smaller than Gwen’s, indicating she had a more cautious nature and was more wary of people than her maidservant. The color as noted that Morgana was a secretive, cunning person that was often seen as mysterious to those around her but had a fierce and brave protective streak that could challenge Gwen any day.

Gaius was the type of green that Merlin associated with moss covered trees deep in the woods and held his soul curled up tight to his heart. This meant that Gaius was a caretaker that was strict but never cruel and someone that had been burned too many times before to trust anyone easily.

Interestingly all three had varying connections to magic- Gwen’s so weak that it wasn’t reflected in her soul at all. She’d neither been born with or worked for the gift. Morgana lay on the opposite end with magic twinning through her soul at every opportunity. Gaius lay in the middle with magic occasionally twisting into his soul like many learned users.

These were all perfectly ordinary souls, nothing that Merlin hadn’t encountered before in his very long life.

Arthur’s soul was like none of these souls and was the first genuine… well first that Merlin had encountered in over a century.

Arthur’s soul glowed a brilliant, pure gold that lit up the entire room. It seeped out of his body, making it the largest soul Merlin had ever seen in a human. Amongest the brilliant gold there were black tendrils of doubt and pain and fear that seemed like someone had forced them onto Arthur, marring his otherwise beautiful soul.

Merlin hated them immediately. Loathed the black seeping into such a beautiful soul as if some one had used a beautiful portrait to clean out the stables. It was wrong and sickening.

Merlin would have those removed and he would stand with that man.

Merlin looked across the hall into bright blue eyes and fell in love.


	2. An annoyance, abet a cute one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin gets a new job, Arthur is distracted and Uther debates the need to apologize to Gaius.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, first the usual, no beta, ect...  
Secondly I'm super sleep deprived right now, but I was going to get this up while I had a moment today so sorry if the ending or editing is a bit scattered.  
I'm also officially back in class so updates will be very scattered- sorry about that in advance.  
Otherwise I hope you enjoy!

Arthur eventually made his way over to the trio and Merlin was quite disappointed that Gwen pulled him away from the group before he realized why Gwen had pulled him away.

Oh. Right. Morgana.

Well, shit.

Arthur was a Prince fated to bring back magic to the land after his father’s rule and Morgana was a budding seer. She was also the King’s ward and nobility, much more suited to the Prince than an apparently orphan peasant boy from another country that was still not officially a healer’s apprentice. 

They may be a good pairing, but… something was a bit off. Not with either of them really, they just had a similar ring to them. Well, it wasn’t uncommon for nobles to intermarry, they could be distant cousins for all he knew. There was some relation there, but nobles had a weird habit of marrying their cousins on occasion.

Merlin always found this rather strange as falling in love with a family member didn’t at all mesh with what he understood about humans- of course nobles very rarely married for love- and those kinds of close marriages often ended badly. Many royals suffered from illness in these situations.

Merlin had to remind himself that he liked Morgana as he watched her and the Prince talk so comfortably, so close.

It had him itch to rip them apart.

While he managed to restrain himself, Merlin was quite distracted the entire time and therefore actually took a moment to realize that the coveted singer was trying to murder the Prince. Merlin had noticed she was a magic user, but didn’t point that out to the King of Camelot as having magic didn’t make the women evil. Trying to kill the Prince, though… Merlin felt to guilt in dropping a chandelier on her head.

As the nobility began to wake up and realize what had happened Merlin inched closer to the Prince to assure himself that he was fine- and a good thing he had as Merlin caught a glint of silver flashing through the air towards the Prince.

Abandoning magic as he didn’t want to have to get a new face so soon, Merlin leapt forward and pushed the Prince out of the way with plenty of time to spare, leaving the knife to sink into the back of the stunned man’s chair as the witch fell in defeat.

Merlin quickly pulled himself off of the Prince, noticing that the pair were now the center of attention.

Merlin was given the job of the Prince’s manservant.

Well, it was a steady position Merlin supposed, and- more importantly- gave him hours a day to spend with his Prince.

It would be much easier to protect the golden-haired man now.

And remove the black filth from his soul.

Merlin was thrilled.

-

Arthur was not thrilled.

Putting aside the worrying reality that he had almost been murdered, the Prince now had a new manservant in the form of a gangly peasant boy. The boy wouldn’t know the first thing about severing a royal- he might not even know his way around the castle yet. And even if he was as terrible as Arthur feared it would be poor form to dismiss the boy given that he had saved his life.

It was doubtful the boy would be able to read or write, most servants that directly served the royal family could at least do both passably as they often had to deliver messages to many visiting nobles and it was much simpler to make a list of items needed at the market and whatnot then to hope they could memorize it all properly.

Not to mention that his father’s manservant often re-read his speeches to check for errors that could embarrass the King, after all not even a king was perfect at all times- they just had to appear to be.  
Merlin would not be of much use as far as Arthur could tell.

He supposed that at least those bright, cheerful eyes that the boy had looked at him with were nice to look at.

Arthur blushed and pushed that particular thought out of his head.

He had more important things to focus on than pretty peasant boys.

-

Uther Pendragon was quite pleased.

While the day had nearly been a disaster that the King did not like to dwell on, in the end things had turned out well.

Arthur had been constantly moaning about his current manservant and how dull the boy was, so awarding another the position would have been eventually inevitable.

This boy… Marris? Merl? Was not going to bring the same kind of complaints at least. The King knew that Gaius had been considering him for an apprenticeship, meaning the boy had some skills with reading, writing and healing that could benefit his son. He was also likely quite bright if Gaius had considered him at all. The pair hadn’t seemed to get along when working together, although they seemed to be able to be friendly at all other times interestingly enough, if what he’d heard from Gaius was correct and as such Uther didn’t feel too guilty at pulling the boy away from him.

He was sure Gaius could find another apprentice soon.

Hopefully the boy would last longer than his predecessors. 

-

Merlin was on time for his first day as the Prince’s personal servant, having been shown the correct passages to get around the night before by Gwen- along with a warning that Arthur didn’t tend to keep a manservant for long.

It was nice of her to help him make a good first impression.

Merlin knocked twice on the door to the Prince’s room before entering with his breakfast- Merlin having already eaten something himself- and setting the food on the table near the Prince’s bed.

“Good morning sire.” Merlin said gently. “I’ve brought your breakfast.”

The prince blinked up at him in surprise, seemingly have not expected Merlin to be on time this morning.

“The Stewart also gave me your schedule for the week.” Merlin continued. “He instructed me to mostly attend to you throughout the day, however as I work for you, sire...”

Merlin trailed off, allowing the Prince to finish the thought on his own.

“You… er….” Arthur muttered, slowly sitting up. “You know what you’re doing.”

“Partially.” Merlin replied. “The Stewart explained my basic duties, sire, but I’m afraid I might be ignorant of certain details.”

Arthur nodded slowly and sat down at the table to have his breakfast.

“What did you do before this, Merlin was it?” Arthur asked.

“Yes sire.” Merlin replied. “I came to Camelot to attempt a healer’s apprenticeship.”

“Healer’s?” Arthur asked, surprised.

“Yes sire, I was under Gaius, although I got the impression that I was unlikely to remain so.” Merlin replied.

“Oh?” Arthur questioned.

“We differed in opinion far to often.” Merlin shrugged.

“You differed in opinion.” Arthur said dryly.

“That’s correct, sire.” Merlin said bluntly. “We had very different teachers.”

“I don’t suppose that means you can read or write then?” Arthur asked hopefully.

“What language, sire?” Merlin asked.

“You speak multiple languages?” Arthur asked in surprise.

Merlin could use magic to speak any language and non-languages that the plants and elements favored. That might not be the best thing to bring up.

“I can speak five languages fluently and three more I can get by in.” Merlin decided to go with.

The spoon Arthur had been using to eat his porridge fell with a splash back into the bowl.

“You can speak eight languages?” Arthur gaped.

“Not well, no one could stay round along enough to finish teaching me the others.” Merlin replied. “But my village was often frequented by travelers and I’m a quick study, sire.”

“Merlin, I only speak three languages and I’m a Prince.” Arthur stated firmly.

“I’m sure you didn’t have much time to bother strangers about new languages, sire.” Merlin replied modestly.

“What do you speak then?” Arthur asked.

“English, French, Latin, Hebrew and Cornish I can speak fluently. Welsh, Breton and Arabic I can get by in. Arabic is my worst, I only ever met one person that could speak it.” Merlin replied.

“Can you write in any of them?” Arthur asked.

“And read in all of them to varying degrees.” Merlin nodded. “Will that be helpful, sire?”

“Quite.” Arthur said dryly. “Do you have any other talents that no peasant should really have? Secretly a swordsmen?”

“Oh no, I’ve never touched a sword.” Merlin shook his head. “I can get by with a hunting knife, but I’ve never gone near most weapons. That was the knight’s job, we weren’t to get involved, sire.”

“Are you not from my land?” Arthur asked in surprise. 

While only knights were meant to use a sword, it wasn’t strictly banned for anyone else- mainly men- to pick up the weapon.

“No, sire, I grew up on the border of King Cenrad’s land.” Merlin replied.

Cenrad did have a strict policy, swords were only for the noble class and above.

“Oh.” Arthur frowned.

“I know all of Camelot’s laws as well, with how close we were, sire.” Merlin assured the Prince.

“Was he a good king?” Arthur asked with a slight frown.

“No.” Merlin said softly. “I left for Camelot over staying there.”

“Why?” Arthur asked curiously.

“Cenrad is cruel.” Merlin replied. “Your Father can be… fearful to unlucky individuals, but did not seem to often be cruel from what I had heard in my village, sire. Cenrad was cruel.”

Arthur looked only more confused at that.

“Perhaps this can wait sire, you are expected at a meeting with your father soon.” Merlin said as he finally handed over the Prince’s schedule.

“The king.” Arthur corrected absently as he looked over the paper.

Merlin wasn’t lying about Cenrad, one of his favorite pastimes was freeing the magic users he forced into is armies. The King hated it and Merlin would it hilarious. Although, now that he thought about it that hobby might cause a problem if the King ever came to visit and saw him.

Well, he’d burn that bridge when he got to it.

“Well, you can follow me for now.” Arthur sighed. “I don’t suppose you know much about nobility’s clothes?”

-

Arthur was faced with the strangest morning of his life. It turned out that not only could his new manservant read and write, the other man could do so better than Arthur! And Merlin had skills in healing as well, which did not make any sense at all.

Even if Merlin had learned as he explained then why would he be a servant? It made far more sense to have him as an apprentice to a scholar in the castle.

Did his father know about this?

Arthur had been complaining about his past manservants lack of… intellect. That didn’t mean he wanted to force someone with Merlin’s potential to be a mere servant, even his personal servant.

Merlin had seemed perfectly happy with the roll he was given… Arthur had no idea why that would be. It was honestly a bit suspicious. For now he would keep his mouth shut and ignore the pretty eyes following him at the moment.


	3. Arthur Wonders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur wonders why Merlin is his manservant. Also while the people in Camelot may be a bit oblivious, they aren't stupid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, sorry for the wait! As usual no beta, lemme know of mistakes and I'll fix them, etc...  
More importantly, Happy Holidays to all!!!!  
Hope you enjoy the chapter:)

Arthur had decided that Merlin was most certainly suspicious and definitely hiding something, however whatever that was wasn’t going to harm Arthur of Camelot. Merlin seemed perfectly happy here and was kind and friendly to everyone he met. The boy was bright and had a cheerful charm that made even Arthur’s senior knights, scarred from countless battles, fond of the servant boy. It was hard to be upset with someone so kind and genuinely optimistic. Not to mention helpful. Merlin evidently had some kind of talent in near everything and was happy to use those talents to benefit others.

Arthur thought it was likely that Merlin was the bastard son of a nobleman, pushed off to the outskirts of Cenrad’s territory but quietly cared for to some degree. Merlin had mentioned learning many tricks from travelers that had spent time in his village, Arthur assumed that these travelers many have been sent with exactly that purpose.

Either way Arthur was grateful to have Merlin as his manservant- if a bit guilty. Merlin was far too bright for the position of a mere servant. Arthur was honestly a bit frustrated that Merlin would never be able to get the high rank he deserved due to his birth.  
For the first time in his life Arthur wondered if his father was very wrong about the way that the kingdom was run. What did birth matter in the face of talent?

Arthur pushed these thoughts away and focused on the days task- the tournament. Merlin was standing beside him, per usual, having picked up on how to put on Arthur’s overly complicated armor far too quickly for someone that had only ever even touched the light and much easier to assemble practice armor Arthur commonly wore- and even that could be considered new to Merlin. There were more pressing concerns at the moment. Namely, Valient.

The other knight was… off. Arthur had been trained to be a knight his entire life, that was to say he was very good at it. Arthur wasn’t the defending champion due to his rank, but his skill. Valient should not have been able to beat his opponent with his skill level. Arthur’s knight was far more talented, and currently being tended to by Gaius. Merlin had seemed quite concerned about the man’s injury, assisting the squires with placing the man on a board to be taken to Gaius’ chambers- Merlin being careful to arrange the fallen knight in a way to ease his pain. Arthur had noted that the man appeared to look far better after Merlin had gently moved him then he had moments before, leaving Arthur wondering why Merlin believed Gaius would not accept him as an apprentice. It was clear the boy had a degree of skill in healing.

Arthur glanced up at his father and saw a similarly concerned expression, hidden from those that didn’t know the King’s tells of course.

Yes, there was definitely something off about Valient.

-

Arthur sat beside his father, Merlin standing behind him, and listened as Gaius explained the situation.

“It appears as though he was poisoned.” Gaius was explaining. “Either the dosage was wrong of the man was fortunate to have some level of immunity to it, but I can confirm that all the symptoms indicate he was poisoned.”

“The man will survive then?” Uther asked.

“Yes, sire.” Gaius agreed. “However it is unlikely he will wake for several days and will require some time to recover from the ordeal.”

“Do you know what kind of poison was used?” Uther asked again.

“I can’t be certain, however I noted two puncture marks on the knight.” Gaius explained. “They perfectly match a snake bite- however they were on the wrist, not leg. It is also doubtful that the knight would have been standing, let alone able to fight if he had been bit before entering the ring.”

“So it is likely that Valient poisoned my knight during the match?” Uther frowned.

“Very, Sire.” Gaius nodded. “However I can’t say how it is possible that he would have been able to given that he was holding a sword and shield at the time. It would have been difficult to also have a snake in hand without notice- and the armor is checked before each knight enters the ring to prevent any underhanded behavior as you know.”

Arthur frowned. Gaius was correct, it would be difficult to accuse Valient of anything with the evidence they had.

“Sire?” Merlin spoke up, stepping forward hesitantly.

Uther frowned at the behavior, but did nothing to stop the boy from interrupting the conversation.

“As you know, I’m not from Camelot and… well I have a possible suggestion to the origin of the snake bite.” Merlin said, looking uncharacteristically nervous.

“Speak Merlin.” Arthur said, having thrown out the normal standards for servants minutes after talking to the other man.

“Cenrad does not ban magic- he has soldiers that use it. I’ve seen them use it to their advantage in battle- they often used shields with spears or animals that could be animated to attack their opponent.” Sometimes these shields could be charmed to work for those without magic for a time.” Merlin explained. “Valient has a rather unusual shield.”

Arthur blinked as he remembered that was true. Most knights used plain shields or one’s with their allegiance marked upon them, like Arthur did. Valient however…

“His shield has snakes marked on it.” Arthur finished.

“Yes, Sire.” Merlin nodded.

Uther looked livid.  
“Then he is using magic to cheat.” Uther growled.

“I can’t be certain without seeing it…” Merlin added nervously.

“Bring me Valient, and his shield.” Uther ordered the guards. “Now!”

-

Arthur was not surprised to be attending the execution of Valient the next morning. The idiot had actually activated his shield in front of Arthur’s father- abet by accident given his reaction which only made it worse. Arthur didn’t feel too bad about watching the man burn.

-

Gaius seemed extra busy for the next few days, apparently there was some sort of illness going abound the lower town. Luckily it seemed to be a passing thing, quickly fading away. Arthur was grateful that only one man had been killed, the others infected were now recovering. Merlin seemed to agree with the sentiment given his cheerful attitude. If Arthur didn’t know better he’d say that Merlin seemed smug, though why he would given that Merlin had had nothing to do with the small outbreak naturally disappearing was a mystery to Arthur.

-

Arthur frowned. Merlin was acting weird again. By this point Arthur had come to accept and even expect this, but his manservant’s new obsession with the glasses and food for the feast was a bit over the top even for him. Arthur would swear that he’d managed to touch every piece of serving wear and looked over ever bite of food with his newfound obsession.

At least the feast went off without any problems to speak of. Merlin looked quite smug about this, Arthur hoped that it wasn’t due to having actually found anything in his one man quest. That was the kind of thing his manservant should certainly inform him about.  
The Prince failed to notice the dark scowl on the face of one pretty red-headed servant girl. She had disappeared by morning anyway.

-

Arthur had a headache. These had become more common since Merlin had appeared. The source of this particular headache came from more than just his manservant, however. The man before him was certainly skilled enough to join his knights. Arthur also found the man to be far more tolerable than many nobleman's sons that had been spent to become knights.

In all honestly Arthur wanted him to join his knights. This however was not possible as the man was not of noble blood. Lancelot had no legal right to become a knight. Merlin’s forged documents did not give Lancelot the demeanor of a nobleman, nor the small details he would need to pull off this idiotic idea.

Arthur approved it anyways.

-

While Arthur was a bit sad to see Lancelot go, the man deserved better, he was glad that the griffin had been slain. Even if Merlin looked sour about it.

-

Arthur awoke on an average day, Merlin humming as he set out the Prince’s food and opened the windows, not expecting anything out of the ordinary. Thus Arthur was surprised to see some kind of mark on his wrist.

The Prince gave a slow blink and rubbed at the mark sleepily, thinking it might have been soot or something of the like.

It didn’t disappear.

Arthur rubbed harder.

Nothing.

He pulled his wrist up to look at the mark closer and very quickly realized that it was not a smudge or anything of the sort. 

It was an image.

Specifically a dragon, wrapped around a shield with a sword held in its tail. While the image was mostly in black, the eyes nearly glowed a bright blue.

“Merlin!” Arthur shouted in alarm.

The manservant turned to the Prince curiously as Arthur shoved his hand in his face, panicked. 

Merlin blushed, not that Arthur noticed in his shouting to get Gaius and what the hell was this thing, how did it get there, he was not drunk last night, magic!?

As Merlin tried to get his Prince to calm down he frowned internally.

Why was Arthur so upset?

Merlin had thought the blessing was a very grand gift.


End file.
